A Second Chance
by ArcaneLucario
Summary: If given a second chance at life, would Tayuya take it? Especially if it means being forced to marry the number one knucklehead ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto Uzumaki? NaruTayu NarutoxTayuya
1. Chapter 1

**A Second Chance**

Despite what some might think, Naruto Uzumaki is not a morning person, at least without reason. Most days he has a clear reason for wanting to get out of bed, for example training or another mission. This time however, he was rudely awakened by a loud knocking against his door, only to be greeted by his teammate Sakura Haruno.

"NARUTO! Open up in there, I know you have to be awake by now!" Said girl shouted.

Sluggishly making his way to the door, the orange and black clad shinobi opened it up, though it was a second too early as he ended up being clobbered in the head by Sakura's fist. "OW! What gives Sakura?! It's way too early to be up, and I know we don't have any missions or training planned." he rubbed the spot he was hit on.

"Sorry about that Naruto" the pink haired girl apologised. "But Lady Tsunade has called for you to go to the council chambers."

The yellow haired boy stopped rubbing his head, and instead tilted it in confusion. "Granny wants me to go where now?"

Sighing, Sakura stepped aside so that the now awake and fully dressed Naruto could leave his apartment. "Honestly, Naruto…will you ever stop calling Lady Tsunade that?" He shook his head with a grin "Anyway, you know, the council chambers? Located in the Hokage's tower?" He shook his head once again. "I would of thought that you would know where it is, seeing as you want to become Hokage once day…"

"Yeah, yeah…whatever. I can learn that later. Did granny say why she wants me there?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, she didn't, which I suppose is a bit weird. Guess you'll have to wait and see? Anyway, I'm gonna go prepare for my shift at the hospital. See ya later Naruto!"

Watching his first crush walk off, Naruto sighed as he started walking in the direction of the Hokage's tower. And that's how we find him, still confused at the doors to the council chamber.

"Hey Shizune, what are you doing here? Did granny call you for something as well?" Naruto asked, noticing the Hokage's assistant waiting outside the doors.

The jet black haired woman smiled at the sight of everyone's favourite teenage ninja "No, Naruto. I was told to notify Lady Tsunade of your arrival, speaking of which…" she knocked on the door and waited a second before entering. "Lady Tsunade, Naruto has arrived!"

Rubbing her temples in preparation for the probable eventual onslaught of complaints or questions from her godson, the 5th and current Hokage cleared her throat. "Took him long enough. Okay Shizune, send him in, and then you can go help Sakura out at the hospital."

Shizune nodded "Right away my lady. Naruto, you can come in." She then walked off towards the hospital.

Stepping into the room, Naruto yawned as he took a look around at who else was in there. First there was the Hokage of Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves, Tsunade Senju, who he had brought back to the village with his godfather Jiraiya not long after the Chūnin exams. Then there was some creepy old guy whose face was mostly covered in bandages. And finally, there was some cute, but grumpy looking, red-haired girl, who seemed oddly familiar, though Naruto couldn't figure out where she was from.

"Hey granny!" Naruto had to quickly dodge a pen thrown at full force by Tsunade. "Isn't this room a little big for only 4 people?"

Said woman then realised that the room was in fact too big for 4 people. It was supposed to be used for meetings between leaders from each of the village's clans, along with council members and any other higher ups who would usually attend them. "Yeah, well…shut it brat. It's too early for me to think properly. Plus, it was insisted upon that we meet here."

"So then, who's the old man? And that girl sat over there?" he asked, pointing to the both of them.

"Have some respect for your elders, boy! Do you have no decency?" Said old man shouted.

Feeling cranky, Naruto turned towards the bandaged man "Have no what now? I seriously don't get what's going on."

The blonde Hokage sighed. "Naruto, just take a seat and we'll explain everything." And so, Naruto sat down next to Tsunade, across from the redhead. "This is Danzo Shimura, one of the elders of Konoha who is on the villages council. And this is Tayuya, a kunoichi from Otogakure. We believe you've met her before."

"I have?" Naruto curiosly asked. Then, the cogs started slowly turning in his mind as he thought back through his life to where he could have met this Tayuya before. A sudden realisation came over his mind, and he shot straight up from his seat. "WAIT A SECOND! IT'S YOU! THAT GIRL WHO TOOK SASUKE FROM US AND NEARLY KILLED SHIKAMARU! I THOUGHT TEMARI KILLED YOU!"

The now identified Tayuya also shot up from her seat "AND SO WHAT IF I AM SHITHEAD? NOT MY FAULT YOUR DUMP OF A VILLAGE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO TRAIN ITS NINJA!"

Ignoring that distasteful comment about his home, and the name used in place of his, Naruto turned to Tsunade, though he didn't miss the few tears in her eyes, along with what looked like fear. "GRANNY WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING HERE?!"

Annoyed at the loud volume this early in the morning, the Senju Hokage punched Naruto in the gut, receiving a moaning "Oowww" from him. "Can't you sit still for just a second Naruto? If you give let us then we'll explain everything." Naruto sat back down in his seat. "Ok, this is probably going to be hard for you to hear, but you are one of the last remaining members, if not the last member, of a clan. The Uzumaki clan, to be specific."

"WAIT I HAVE A CLAN?! Or…had a clan…I guess…why was I never told about this?" The boy had never heard that he belonged to a clan, and so knowing that they were all dead was a huge bummer.

Danzo spoke up. "Yes, boy. Well, in reality you are the closest living person we know to a being a proper Uzumaki. There are some, like Tsunade, who have Uzumaki blood, though they aren't members of the clan due to their more prominent bloodline."

"Granny, you've got Uzumaki blood? How come you never told me?" Naruto asked, looking towards his Hokage, though he took a second to spare a curious look at Tayuya.

"Because I didn't really think that it mattered since I'm not a full blooded Uzumaki. And there's the fact that if you knew before, then you could have ended up in some danger, so I wanted to protect you from that. Forgive me, Naruto, but it was in everyone's best interest that we kept it from you." She apologised.

Danzo coughed, drawing attention back to himself. "If you'll allow me to continue…the Uzumaki in fact had their own village, known as Uzushiogakure, otherwise known as the Hidden Eddy Village, which was located in a place known as the Land of Whirlpools which resided on an Island near the coast of the Land of Fire. It no longer exists, though, as it was destroyed many years ago."

Naruto was both shocked and wide eyed at this information. "Why was it destroyed?"

"Uzumaki were known to have long lives due to their blood, one example of this being Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the first Hokage. Despite being from many generations above yours, she lived well into your mother's years. Uzumaki were also well known for their fūinjutsu, and the seal for their most known is actually the same as found on most Konoha clothing, for example you own." Naruto turned his head to look for the seal, staring at it with wonder.

"Because of their vast knowledge of fūinjutsu, the Uzumaki were feared throughout the nations, and so during the second ninja world war, they were attacked by many of the villages, and despite their strong attempt at fighting back, were mostly destroyed, forcing members to scatter across the globe."

Taking in all the information, Naruto wondered about something that he was just told. "Wait...you mentioned my mother, so that must mean you know who she was…right?"

Tsunade took this as her cue to talk again "Yes Naruto, we did know who she was. I'm incredibly sorry that no one had told you until know, but this was for you own safety. But under these circumstances, it is only right we reveal who your mother was."

Naruto excitingly look at his Hokage. He was about to find out who his birth parents were for god's sake! "Go on then! Tell me! Tell me! Who were they?!"

Taking a breath, the large breasted kunoichi continued. "Your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the previous jinchūriki of the nine-tailed fox sealed within you. She was a very powerful and skilled woman, feared by many, but also loved, often gaining the affection of many men. And your father…" She took a break, and prepared herself for whatever reaction may come from Naruto. "your father, was Minato Namikaze, the 4th Hokage of the Leaf, and the one who sealed the fox into you."

Suddenly, the room fell silent as Tsunade, Danzo and Tayuya all took stared at Naruto, awaiting his reaction. Tayuya was honestly kind of interested at this information. She hadn't known about any Uzumaki clan, or what they were like. Though she did wonder why exactly that linked to her reason for being in the room.

Tsunade had expected some loud outburst of rage or tears from her godson, but not what actually happened.

"MY DAD WAS THE FREAKING FOURTH HOKAGE?! THAT'S AWESOME! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IM RELATED TO A HOKAGE! AND HE WAS THE YELLOW FLASH OF THE LEAF! WOOHOO! BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" Everyone winced at his loud volume. It was definitely too loud for this time of day. Tayuya stared in curiosity at the boy, wondering how the son of a Hokage could be so pathetic, though the fact that he didn't know or have parents, like her, did probably have something to do with it.

"Yes Naruto, your father was the 4th Hokage get over it…" Tsunade sighed, rolling her eyes.

The (probably) over excited Naruto looked towards the woman. "Get over it? Granny I just learnt about how I'm from an awesome clan! And I just found out who my mother was! And that my father was the 4th Hokage!"

Knowing that this was massive for Naruto, but still being annoyed at him for calling her Granny, Tsunade shook it off like it was nothing. "So what? I'm a Hokage. My grandfather was the first Hokage, and my uncle was the second."

"Damnit granny can't you let me have my happiness for just a second?" She shook her head, and Naruto sighed. "Wait, so why are you telling me this? And what does this have to do with... _her_." he growled, looking over at the red head.

"That's precisely what we were going to tell you next, boy." Danzo informed them with. "I feel that the Uzumaki clan has been gone for far too long, and seeing as you are the only known member left, we want to force you into marriage with the prisoner, and have you impregnate her within the next 5 years."

"WHAT/THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY!" both teens shouted at the same time.

Naruto looked towards Tsunade "He…he's joking, right? There's no way in hell that he wants me and her to do that. Come on granny, say this is just a joke!"

"Yeah! Why the fuck would I want to make a baby with that jackass! I'm his enemy for god's sake! And I don't plan on having a baby with a random shithead from a shitty village!" Tayuya herself exclaimed.

"Im sorry, Naruto, but what Danzo says is true. This is the best thing for the Uzumaki clan, and the best way to get it back up." Tsunade apologised again.

Naruto was shocked at that. "But why her? Why can't I do it with Sakuraaaaa?" he drew out her name. Sakura Uzumaki always sounded nice to him.

"Yeah, why me? You can't make me have do that!" Tayuya shouted out.

Danzo cleared his throat. "Actually, we can and we will. Pushing aside the bad deeds from your past, and where you come from, you are the best candidate for this task."

Tayuya glared at Danzo with hatred. "Whaddya mean best candidate?" Naruto nodded at her question in agreement.

"We are unsure of which clan you come from, or if you even come from one, but we have performed several blood tests between your blood and the Uzumaki blood from Naruto, and have found results that would greatly benefit the child you produce, making it much stronger than the both of you." He replied.

Naruto slammed his fists on the table "Even so, you can't just force us into marriage and reproducing! Marriage is supposed to be special, between two people in love! Forced marriage is wrong, I wanna marry Sakura!"

"Naruto this is the only way for this to work!" said Tsunade

"But-"

"But nothing!" Danzo cut him off. "This is something you must do, and we haven't been keeping this girl prisoner for 3 years for nothing! If she doesn't comply, then we will just kill her and find the next best candidate. Whoever it is we chose, we are making them restart the Uzumaki clan with you!"

Tayuya then cradled her head in her lap, holding it up with her arms. "Nononononono… you can't be serious…I can't fucking do this…I just wanna go home…" she whispered under her breath.

"What?!" Naruto shouted out. "You can't just kill her for that! I don't care if she's an enemy, she's still a human being!"

"It's the only way, boy!" Danzo started tapping his foot in impatience at Naruto's non-understanding of the task. "Five years, you and Tayuya. Impregnate her or she dies."

Naruto then looked over at the girl. "But…this is all so sudden…and she's an enemy and she-" he then noticed the tears slowly dripping out of Tayuya's eyes, and that her body was slightly shaking. "Hey, can we have the room to ourselves for a few minutes?"

The two elders of the room then looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Tsunade was the one to answer. "Sure, Naruto. Take as long as you want."

Naruto watched as the two left the room, and waited for the door to close before looking back over towards his ex-enemy sat across from him. He then decided to walk around the table towards her.

"H-hey, Tayuya? You alright?" He asked, concern clear in his voice.

"J-Just…Just leave me alone!" She barked back, clearly angered by the situation. I mean who wouldn't? First, she was a member of Orochimaru's sound five, then she was defeated by some bitch from Sunagakure, then she was captured and kept prisoner for 3 years, and now she's being forced to marry and get impregnated by some shithead.

"Ok, geez I'm sorry. It's just that you don't look okay." He apologised, though he knew he didn't actually do anything wrong. Really neither of them were in the wrong. It was that creep, Danzo, who was.

Tayuya shot straight up and faced Naruto. "OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY! I WAS KEPT AS A FUCKING PRISONER FOR THREE FUCKING YEARS! A-AND NOW I-I'M BEING FORCED TO DO THIS. I…I…I CAN'T" she gasped "I CAN'T DO THIS!" at this point Tayuya broke down into tears, her eyes practically being a broken dam.

For some odd reason, despite knowing that Tayuya is, or rather was, an enemy, Naruto felt the need to hold the smaller girl close, and try to comfort her. And so, he did, pulling her right up against him so her face was buried into his chest. He started raking his free hand through her long hair. "Hey, hey…Tayuya…It'll be okay. I'm sure of it…"

"H-how can you say that? We-were you not listening to what that old fucker just said?" she cried, though her voice was muffled through the fabric in her face. Strangely she didn't even attempt to back off from the embrace, instead choosing to hold onto the front of Naruto's jacket. "We're being made to get married. And I've just been told to get pregnant!"

"I know…I know…don't worry Tayuya, I'm sure there's some way out of it…" he replied, continuing to let his hand dance through the red hair, taking note of how soft if felt despite the fact that she had been kept prisoner for the past few years.

"B-but t-there isn't a way out. A-and I'm probably gonna get abandoned like the lonely bitch I am. And the old fucker will abandon me, like I've the last time I was abandoned. And that old hag will leave me. And you'll probably abandon me, or use me to get your shitty clan back up and then leave me alone!" she continued to sob into Naruto's chest, dampening it.

Naruto grabbed Tayuya by the shoulders and stepped back, so that he could look into her eyes. "Hey, Tayuya…please stop crying…you looked p-prettier when you weren't." he said with a small blush on his face. Tayuya gasped at that, and gained a small blush of her own. "And don't worry, I'm not gonna force you into anything. And I won't abandon you either." That promise confused Naruto as he said it. Why was he saying it? This girl was an enemy! She stole his best friend and helped kill his previous Hokage! But it felt right to say it…maybe that's why.

"W-wha-…?" Tayuya whispered.

"If we have to do this, then if you want we can just not talk for the whole time. But I suppose I'll have to help you with the pregnancy." He suggested to the girl stood in front of him.

"W-wait…why are you being so nice to me jackass? I'm your enemy…I mean considering all I've done shouldn't you want to kill me? You have a perfect opportunity to do it right now…" Tayuya asked.

Brown eyes stared into blue ones, as the boy with those blue eyes thought over his answer. Why was he being nice? "I guess it's because I'm just a nice person…I know what it's like to have a crappy life and have no friends…and I guess I can forgive people easily."

"But I took that dick with the hair that looks like a duck ass from you! And I nearly killed pineapple head. Not to mention I assisted in the killing of that old guy who was your Hokage" she sniffled, tears still dropping from her eyes, though it was a significantly smaller amount.

"Y-yeah, you did." Naruto's eyes dropped, before lightening up because he knew that this was the right thing to do, somehow. "But those things were orders from that snake bastard, Orochimaru. If I were you I'd probably do it without a question. I mean I've seen how strong and scary he is, and you were under direct orders so you had to do it, so I guess I forgive you. In terms of Sasuke, we're trying our best to track him down and get him back every day, I even made a promise to do it, so don't worry about that. As for you, I guess you're a part of the Leaf now, so I kinda have to be nice to you, because that makes you one of my precious people. I can't let you die now." The saying 'precious people' sent a warm wave to Tayuya's heart, making her feel better about herself.

The two stood in silence for a few seconds, before Tayuya asked a question, changing the subject. "Earlier, when you said I looked pretty…did…did you mean it?"

Naruto eyes then widened. He hadn't actually realised that he said it out loud. "U-uhh…yeah…I kinda did…heh…" he then took a moment to look over the slightly older girl. She had certainly grown over the past few years, and had gotten much prettier. She was taller, though not as much as he was now. Tayuya had that pretty, long red hair, that he for some reason liked. Unknown to him it was because his mother had the same kind of hair, but he just assumed he had a natural liking for the colour red. She had those brown eyes that he felt he could get lost in. Her body had become more woman like, and her face was very clean and cute.

Tayuya's face then gained a large blush spread across it, but she didn't try to hide it, instead taking a moment of her own to look over the boy. Naruto had grown a lot since she last saw him. Tayuya remembered being taller than him, but now he was at least a head taller than her. His face had lost the baby fat, and his cheeks were more accented. His eyes were a pretty shade of blue. He had those cute whisker marks on each of his cheeks, that she kind of wanted to touch and see how they felt. He had that yellowy blonde, spiky hair that Tayuya wanted to run her own fingers through at some point. All in all, Naruto was a very handsome man.

Tayuya then thought about what she was being made to do. She was being given a second chance at life. A second chance to grow up, and to have a family. To make a family. Truthfully Tayuya had always wanted to have children of her own. The thought had crossed her mind many times, but there was no way she would consider doing it with any of the little shits back in Oto. She thought about her team as prime examples. First there was that fat asshole, then there was the dick with way too many arms. Next was the shit face who had a second shit face attached to him, and finally there was that creepy fucker who apparently was never told that bones are supposed to stay in your body. Tayuya couldn't remember their names though, it had been too long, but those descriptions were enough for her. She then spared another glance at the blonde boy in front of her. He was good looking, and probably was strong, and according to what she now knew about his clan, would be a good husband and father.

The possibility of having a second chance and having a family with the blonde shithead in front of her suddenly didn't sound too bad. "Hey, shithead?" she asked, gaining his attention from looking over her. "What if...what if I do want this? What if I were up for being with…you…and doing…y'know…and making a baby?" Tayuya was very nervous from suggesting this.

"Y-you'd wanna have a b-baby? With me?" Naruto stuttered, receiving a nod. "I-I-I don't know what to say. I-I guess…I guess I'd be fine with that. Yeah…if what the old man said about our child being strong is true, then I guess I'm fine with it! And I bet you're actually pretty cool if I got to know you."

Tayuya looked up at Naruto, wide eyed with hope, trying to look for any signs of lying in his. She kept searching and searching, and found that there was none. "Really? And you'd wanna have a baby with me?" she asked, receiving a nod. Tayuya was overjoyed. Here was her second chance. Here was a chance at redemption, and at family. She didn't know how to react, so she took her first instinct which was to tackle Naruto to the ground in a hug.

"Hey! Hey!" he laughed. "Calm down, Tayuya!"

The girl then raised her head from his chest, planting her hands there to keep her steady. "Sorry shithead. I just…I just didn't know how to react. I'm just really happy!"

Naruto then pulled his future wife back against him, and chuckled in agreement. "Well I guess over the next few years we can get to know each other better, or whatever. I can take you out on dates and show you around the village, and stuff like that. We have plenty of time for this. Don't worry everything's gonna be just fine!" his future wife then nodded and nuzzled her face into his chest in agreement, while Naruto started to stroke his hand through her hair again.

The two then continued to lie there on the floor, talking out their future together for a little bit before Tayuya fell asleep in Naruto's arms, forgetting the fact that the old people from before were supposed to come back in at some point. Carefully picking her up bridal style, Naruto carried Tayuya over to a chair and sat down, keeping her in his arms. As a weird reflex, Tayuya curled up against him, her legs just barely hanging off the sides of the chair, while her chest slowly rose and fell as she took small breaths through a little gap in her mouth. Naruto took a few seconds to stare at the adorable sight right on top of him, thinking about how precious Tayuya looked right now.

Despite the peace of the situation, they had to let Tsunade and Danzo back in so they could say that they were fine with this and sign their names. Not wanting to get up, Naruto quickly put his hands into his all too familiar hand sign and summoned a single clone, mentally commanding it to let the others back in. The clone walked over to the door and quietly opened it, before dispelling itself. The elderly man and woman who had just re-entered the room looked at the sight in front of them, and then nodded at each other as if to say that they figured out what's going on.

"Naruto, mind waking Tayuya up?" Tsunade asked as she moved back to her seat, while Danzo did the same.

Naruto nodded and gently shook Tayuya, whispering into her ear. "Hey, wifey…it's time to wake up. We have to make this official." Tayuya then, after a few second, woke up and yawned, looking up into the clear blue eyes of the man she was going to be married to very soon. She then twisted in his lap and faced the elderly members of the room.

"I guess the decisions been made, correct?" Danzo asked, and a nod was sent by both teens, confirmed his suspicion, and so he pulled out a scroll from within his sleeve. "Good. Now I need you both to sign this with your chakra signatures, and then we can figure out the formalities."

The scroll was then passed over to Tayuya, who opened it and held it for both her and Naruto to see. After a quick read through of what it said, she sent some chakra through to her index finger and signed her name (only her first, since she didn't know her last), before handing it over to Naruto who did the same, but with his full name. And bam, they were married. It wasn't the dream wedding that Tayuya had always planned, but at least she was married, and it was to a decent person.

The now signed scroll was then handed back over to Danzo, and since the two teens, who were now married, figured that they were done here, they stood up from their shared seat. "Is it alright if you two do that by yourselves? I think I should probably take Tayuya to her new home and get her settled in."

"Yes, alright you do that Naruto" Tsunade agreed, giving permission for them to leave. "But before you do, to make this easier on everyone, make sure to address Tayuya as your girlfriend for now. It will bring up many suspicions if you are suddenly married, so it's for the best."

Naruto nodded, then turned to look at his wife, extending out a hand to her. "Ready to go home, Tayuya?"

Tayuya then placed her small hand into Naruto's larger one, and couldn't help the smile or the blush that now covered her cheeks. And with that, they started to head towards Naruto's apartment, or rather, their apartment. "So…Tayuya Uzumaki, huh?" The red head wondered out loud. "I like the sound of that." Her smile widened, and Naruto's did the same. And with that, they started to head towards Naruto's apartment, or rather, their apartment.

* * *

Despite the fact that letting Tayuya have a look around her new village would probably be a good idea, the two instead decided to just take the quickest route home and try and get a few more hours sleep since it was still early and most people were still sleeping. This didn't stop Tayuya from at least enjoying some of the sights, like actual open sunlight, no matter where you were, instead of the limited amount that you could only get from a hole in the ground in Oto, or from looking at the Hokage mountain with all 5 Kage heads modelled on it, from the 1st Hokage Hashirama Senju, to the 5th Tsunade Senju. All of it was a lot to take in for Tayuya, but she was glad that she happened to be worthy of this second chance.

After around 10 minutes of walking through the village (or rather, Naruto giving Tayuya a piggyback because she didn't know what that was, and she wanted to see what it was like. Naruto was more than happy to comply with this, trying to make his new wife feel as at home as one can be), they eventually made their way back to Naruto's apartment.

"Hey, Tayuya? Sorry if you don't like it, or anything. I don't really have much of an income, and you know, no family, so it's all I can afford. Old man Hokage bought it for me way back when I was young. And sorry if it's messy. I was out kinda late last night training and didn't have much time to clean."

Tayuya had an idea of who this 'Old man Hokage' was, but she wasn't sure, so she asked anyway. "Who's old man Hokage?"

Naruto gave a weird chuckle, seeing as it's the same Hokage she helped kill "Lord third, Hiruzen Sarutobi? The one you, you know…"

"Oh right, yeah. Anyway, who cares I'm sure it's better than what I had back with the snake fucker. And at least this time I've got someone nice to share it with." she quickly said, with a small blush. Naruto also gave a small blush.

The door to Naruto's…their apartment was unlocked, and to Tayuya's surprise it was actually mostly clean, since she was expecting it to be dirty because of what he apologised for. The only mess was a few used ramen cups lying around and some old clothes on the couch. "You said it was gonna be a mess in here."

"Well, yeah? I thought that to girls this counts as a mess. Sakura always says it is…just didn't want you to be mad, I guess." He apologised again.

Instead of accepting his apology, the fierce genjutsu user reached up and bashed him on the head. "Just because I'm a girl you think that I think that the smallest of messes is a disaster?!" Before Naruto had the chance to say sorry, she hit him onto the floor. "And who the fuck is this Sakura to tell you what to do? You've were talking about her earlier, and I don't give a damn what she thinks. I'm your wife, so whatever I say is what we go with, got it shithead?"

Getting up from the floor, Naruto cried out, though not fully as he's experience way worse hit's than that. Tayuya wasn't as strong as most kunoichi her age are, though that could do with the fact that she's a genjutsu user and was a prisoner so probably wasn't properly fed. "OW! TAYUYAAAAA! I'm soooorry…but don't hit me! I'm your husband, you can't hit me!"

"Exactly, you're my husband, so I can hit you all I want! And only I can hit you!" She argued. "Now, where's the fridge? I'm starved."

Tayuya stepped forward over the threshold, with Naruto following behind shortly after. "Uhh, the kitchen is just through there in the next room, and the bedroom is behind that door. Bathroom is on your right."

Making her way to the kitchen, Tayuya took notice of how at home she feels, despite not having a home in the past to compare it to. She then licked her lips in anticipation for food to come out the fridge, but was disappointed to find that there was only a half full carton of milk and a few eggs. "Shithead where's the fucking food?"

"There isn't any, I guess? Like I said I was out late training and so I didn't have any time to buy stuff. Plus, I pretty much just got back from a mission, so there's that."

His wife then twisted in place to face him. "Then go out and buy me something!"

Naruto gulped at the growl she gave. "It's still early out! None of the shops are gonna be open yet. Why does it matter though? I thought we came here to get some sleep, and then after we do that we can go out and get whatever you want!"

"Fiiine…but we ain't sleeping in the same bed, got it? You're taking the couch!" She ordered.

"But…but it's my apartment!" he complained.

Tayuya shot Naruto a glare. "It was your apartment, now it's ours. And I'm your wife so I get what I want!"

"But…"

"But nothing, shithead! Shut up and deal with it" the fierce little lady shouted as she walked into Naruto's bedroom. Said owner of the bedroom dropped himself to his couch with a frown on his face. It seemed that living with someone was harder than it sounded. And why was Tayuya suddenly acting this way?

* * *

A few minutes had passed and neither tenants of the apartment had managed to fall asleep. Naruto was constantly twisting and turning, trying (and failing) to find a comfortable position, while Tayuya found that she felt somehow uncomfortable with how she acted and with sleeping in someone else's bed, and just generally uncomfortable, though she hadn't been able to figure out what it was that made her feel that way. Clearly something had happened earlier that made her uncomfortable with lying alone, but what was it?

No…it couldn't have been…not shithead? It wasn't the natural warmth he gave off, right? There's no fucking way that by coming into contact with some random loser like him could have changed how Tayuya sleeps. That's downright impossible…but why did it feel like the truth? Maybe because she was now married? Maybe because she's never felt someone's warmth? Maybe because she knew that he would never abandon her? Maybe because…it was true? Eh, who the fuck cares for what the reason is. Tayuya was tired, and she needed her man to keep her comfortable.

"HEY, SHITHEAD!" she yelled from through the door. All she received was silence. "Shithead?" More silence came.

Now Tayuya was worried. Shithead wasn't supposed to abandon her. Shithead was supposed to be just outside the door, either sleeping or trying to get to sleep. Shithead hadn't mentioned going out for anything, and Tayuya hadn't heard anyone knocking at the door, so why the fuck was he not answering? Suddenly Tayuya felt her heart drop, and tears started to form in her eyes. But she wasn't a fucking pansy like those bitches she beat back in Oto for survival, no way! And so, she wiped and wiped away those tears, only to find more coming out than she could handle.

'No…I-I'm not like this…t-this…this isn't me…it's this dump of a village making me like this. I-it's Shitheads fucking fault for not answering me…' she thought to herself. Slowly the red-head made her way to the closed door of the bedroom. Tayuya then felt incredibly stupid, because she remembered that Shithead had a name other than Shithead, though she figured he would have answered anyway. Once she remembered what it was, she croaked it out through a wavy voice filled with the sounds of her sobbing. "N-n-Naru…Naru-to…?"

Within the second the male tenant of the apartment was in front of his wife, having quickly opened the door. Naruto had heard Tayuya call for him earlier, and he had heard her crying, but figured that since they were married she should try and call him by his actual name. It was a bit harsh, but if anything, it was good for the two of them. "T-Tayuya? Are you okay?" he asked, seeing a trail of tears behind her.

"Y-y-you c-could hear me…you f-fucking idiot…y-you…" Tayuya cried out, weakly hitting Naruto's chest, before being pulled flush against it. Naruto wrapped one hand around her shoulders, while the other went to hold Tayuya's head against his chest.

"Hey…hey, Tayuya. I told ya, I'm never gonna leave you, kay?" he whispered in a calm and soothing voice. Tayuya's sobs slowly softened, before coming to a stop. "Now come on, let's get you back to bed, alright?" Tayuya nodded, not saying a word.

Naruto then noticed the current attire Tayuya was sporting. By which he meant one of his shirts that, when worn by Tayuya, went down to just above her knees, covering her underwear. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks, something not missed by Tayuya. "W-what the fuck are you looking at?" she then followed his eyeline down to her clothing. "Oh, yeah, I borrowed one of your shirts. Your cool with that, right?"

"Y-yeah…y-you l-look…you look cute in it…" the yellow haired teen squeaked with a blush.

Tayuya stopped dead in her tracks, facing away from Naruto to hide her own blush. "F-fucking stop it…stop fucking saying nice things about me! I don't deserve it!"

"It's not my fault you're hot! I'm just pointing out what I see!" He argued.

"S-shut it!" She snapped back as she climbed back into Naruto's bed...her bed…their bed?

Naruto was about to step away, when he became confused at why Tayuya wanted him in the first place. "Hey Tayuya? Why'd you call for me anyway?"

Tayuya suddenly froze, remembering the reason why, and then noting how that meant sleeping next to Naruto. In the bed. Close together. Next to Naruto. In the bed. In the dark. Next to Naruto. In the bed. "I…I couldn't sleep…"

"Oh. Want me to get you a glass of milk, or something?" Naruto figured that would help. It always helped him, if his body being sore from training wasn't enough.

"N-no…I was…I was wondering if you…could sleep with me?" Tayuya than realised what that sounded like. "THA-THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! Not like _sleep sleep_ …but like…sleep next to me? Keep me warm, That kinda thing?"

Figuring that they would probably have to do this eventually, and that they might as well get used to it, Naruto agreed with the idea. "Sure, I guess I can do that." He made his way to the side of the bed, gently lifting the covers. "You sure?"

"Yes, just get in here already!"

Naruto slipped under the covers, keeping a distance between him and Tayuya because he didn't want to be seen as perverted by her. Yet to his surprise, Tayuya backed up against him, so her back was right up against his chest. "Tayuya?"

"I said I wanted you to keep me warm! So, keep me warm shi…Naruto." Tayuya remembered that Naruto wouldn't enter the room without being called by his actual name earlier. "Hey, I'm uhh…sorry for how I acted earlier. I shouldn't have ordered you around like that…"

"No, there's no need to apologize. It's fine, you're just not used to this kinda thing. But if it helps, I forgive you." He cut her off. Letting a few seconds pass to see if his wife would try to say anything else, Naruto carefully snaked his open arm around Tayuya's waist, keeping her secure against him. She let out a little squeal at the unexpected manoeuvre, but she appreciated it so she didn't say anything. If this what having someone be there for you was like, then Tayuya could certainly get used to this. After whispering out a "Goodnight" to each other, both teens fell asleep with a smile on their face.

* * *

A few hours later Naruto was once again rudely awakened due to some loud knocking against his door. And because Naruto only knew once person who would knock that loud, he knew that Sakura would probably be here to ask him questions about why he was called to the council chambers.

Hoping that if he stayed silent long enough Sakura would go away, Naruto decided to do just that, though it was to no avail as the knocking continued.

"For fuck's sake Naruto, just answer the damn door already…" Tayuya complained, tightening her grip on Naruto's arms which were still wrapped around her, despite what she was telling him to do.

Naruto carefully removed himself from Tayuya, and sluggishly made his way over towards the door, already missing the feeling of being wrapped around her. Tayuya too missed the added warmth, so she followed him out of the bed, but chose to wait by the bedroom door to see who was doing the knocking in case she felt threatened by whoever it was.

Waiting for a pause in the knocking, Naruto placed his hand on the door handle, before opening it and readjusting his eyes to the sunlight. "Hey, Sakura. Whaddya doing here? I thought you were supposed to be working at the hospital."

"I'm on my morning break right now. I came over as soon as I could because I wanted to know why Lady Tsunade called for you so early." She replied.

'Called it!' Naruto let out a yawn. "Oh, right, yeah. That. Uhh…it's nothing important. Just some…personal stuff. Not sure if I'm allowed to tell you yet. Don't worry about it though, nothing's wrong. But I don't see why…" he drifted off as he noticed Sakura's eyes drop down to his waist.

"Naruto? Why do you have a second pair of arms? Whose arms are those around you?" Sakura asked, confused by why there even was another person in Naruto's apartment in the first place. Sakura had never actually stepped foot inside it, she had only gone to the door and that was it.

A warm and fuzzy feeling went through Naruto's chest at the sudden embrace from behind. He grinned and the lifted his arm to let Tayuya move around to his side. She did so and placed her head on his shoulder and one hand on his chest, and to keep her there Naruto wrapped his hand around her shoulders. "Sakura, I'd like you to meet Tayuya. Tayuya, Sakura."

"What's up pinkie?"

Ok now Sakura was really confused. First there was a second person in Naruto's apartment. Then it turns out that person is a girl, and a good looking one at that. Next, this girl and Naruto wrapped their arms around each other. And now that she mentioned it, the girl was wearing one of Naruto's shirts!

"I'm sorry Naruto, but…what's going on?"

The yellow haired shinobi sighed. Sakura was supposed to be the smart one, right? "This is Tayuya. She's my girlfriend and she lives here with me!"

Wait now he had a girlfriend who was living with him?!

"Wha-…H-how long has this been going on for?" The pink haired student of the 5th Hokage asked, still confused by the whole situation.

Tayuya spoke up. "I'd say 3, maybe 4 hours. Give or take. Why pinkie? You never had a boyfriend before?"

Sakura blushed and looked to her feet, knowing that she had never had a boyfriend before. "N-no…" She was saving herself for Sasuke, and there was no way in hell that she was gonna accept one of Naruto's invitations for a date. Though since he had a girlfriend now that won't be happening again, she supposed. "WAIT I STILL DON'T GET IT! What on earth happened at that meeting Naruto?"

Both teens standing in the doorway sighed. "I told you. I was talked to about some personal stuff, and then I got a girlfriend!"

"How are you talking about it like it's normal?"

Tayuya decided to take this one. "Well I think we both know that Naruto's not exactly normal, pinkie." She answered, earning a small nudge from Naruto.

The female member of Team 7 gave up with asking these sorts of questions, because Tayuya was right. Naruto wasn't exactly normal, and so whatever happens around him most likely isn't normal either. "Sorry, what did you say your name was, again?" she asked. It sounded oddly familiar, but she couldn't quite place her finger on where it was from.

"Seriously, you forgot already? I thought medics were supposed to be smart" the red head mocked. "It's Tayuya."

Tayuya…Tayuya…why did that name sound so familiar? No…it couldn't be…she couldn't be THE Tayuya, the very same one that Sakura had heard about from Shikamaru. The very same genjutsu user who stole her precious Sasuke away from the village, away from her. But it was. This Tayuya stood next to Naruto was the same Tayuya from 3 years ago.

"You…" The pink haired medic started shaking with anger "…you bitch…" she whispered with a growl.

"Huh, what was that? You're gonna have to speak up. Just because I'm from the Sound Village doesn't mean I have better hearing." The red head commented.

Sakura channelled a bunch of chakra into her fist, stepping forward towards the couple in front of her. "YOU BITCH! YOU STOLE SASUKE FROM ME. HOW DARE YOU STAND THERE LIKE YOU DID NOTHING WRONG!" Sakura swung her fist forward, aiming for Tayuya's face, hoping to kill her for her crimes.

Tayuya froze in fear, not being able to move an inch. She was supposed to be pardoned of her crimes, and given a new chance at life here. Pain wasn't supposed to exist for her anymore, but here she was, with a fist headed her way.

All seemed like it was going to plan for Sakura, until at the very last second, her wrist was caught by Naruto. "HEY!" he threw Sakura onto the floor of the walkway outside the door, voice deep in a growl. "Don't you dare try to hurt my wife like that!"

Wait…now Naruto's girlfriend was his wife?! The hell was going on?

Sakura slowly and cautiously got up from the floor, the impact having caused quite a bit of pain, showing that the orange clad shinobi must have put a lot of force into his defense. "Ow, Naruto. That hurt!"

"So what if it did? You've hurt me tons of times before! And you tried to attack my wife!" Naruto growled back, his eyes looking more like red slits than the normal blue ones.

There it was again! He said wife, not girlfriend! "Did…did you just say wife?"

"I did?" he asked, receiving a nod from the female member of Team 7. "Aahh crap. Tayuya, I messed up!"

Under normal circumstances Tayuya would probably have punched him or shouted at him, but Naruto had just saved her life, and was providing her with love and care, so she decided to give him this one. "That's alright shithead. I probably would have done the same thing." His wife replied, hiding behind him.

"Ok, Sakura, I'm gonna need you to keep this a secret. I wasn't meant to tell you that Tayuya is my wife. It just slipped my tongue."

"B-but she…but she tried to kill Shikamaru…and she took Sasuke away" the medic weakly cried.

Naruto sighed, remembering that the girl he now had to protect was the one who had done those things. "I know."

"And she's evil! She's a criminal!"

"She was evil, and she was a criminal. Not anymore." He replied.

Sakura was at a loss for words. How could Naruto be so accepting of her despite what she had done. "So why are you looking after her? Why is she your wife?!"

"Because she just is!" was the answer. "I went to the meeting. I got told some stuff. I got married. That's all you're allowed to know, actually it's more than you should know."

The pink haired girl was still lost for words. Tayuya should have been killed years ago. She didn't deserve to live for what she had done. Naruto shouldn't be looking after her. "But I…"

"But nothing. Sakura, I need to you not tell anyone about this. Maybe one day I can tell you the details of what's going on, but for now that's all you will know. So please, don't tell anyone Tayuya is my wife. I'm pretty sure it's kinda illegal for anyone else to know. If you talk about her, say she's my girlfriend."

"But…"

Naruto sighed again. "Just stop it Sakura. Tayuya is my wife, and I won't allow you, or anyone else for that matter, to hurt her." Hearing that, Tayuya's cheeks became covered in a deep blush, and her stomach flipped. Naruto really was a great guy, seeing as he was already defending her like that. "Now if you excuse us, we're gonna get changed and then head out to do stuff." He closed the door in Sakura's face, leaving her to mull over the news given to her. After a minute, Sakura left to go find find someone to talk to about this. Or to find a tree to punch. Should she be happy for Naruto, now that he had someone in his life? Or should she stay mad, because Tayuya took her precious Sasuke away from her and the village? Sakura didn't know, and it frustrated her.


	2. Authors Note

**Authors Note**

 **It looks like it's gonna be a bit longer than I thought until the second half of this comes out. I am currently without internet, and don't get it until the 29th. By then I should have the second half finished so you can probably expect it to be uploaded on that day, or at least within the next few days after that.**

 **Sorry for the wait, but I'm very happy to see all the positive responses to whats been written so far, so you can expect to see something good coming up.**

 **Thank you**

 **ArcaneLucario**


	3. Chapter 2

Among the now busy and more crowded streets of Konoha is where you would find Naruto and Tayuya, walking next to each other in an awkward silence. What was Tayuya supposed to say after what had just happened a few minutes ago? First Naruto defended her from the pink bitch that tried to hurt her, then he slammed the door in her face, and after going to his bedroom, threw a change of clothes at Tayuya. That change of clothes being a light blue shirt and some black shorts. But that's beside the point. Was Tayuya supposed to thank him for what he did? Or ask if he's alright after what happened? God…this whole marriage thing was harder than it looked…no, scrap that…this whole being a person with feelings thing was harder than it looked.

Getting fed up with the silence, Naruto opted to asked Tayuya a question that involved some people very dear to him. "Hey, uhh…Tayuya? You wanna grab something to eat?" Tayuya looked up at Naruto. "There's this place called Ichiraku Ramen around here that serves the best Ramen across all the nations!"

"Yeah, why the fuck not Shithead. I am still hungry from earlier…" Tayuya replied.

"Great! Their ramen is so good it'll make you regret eating from anywhere else!" Naruto cheered, as if it were some well-known fact.

"Actually…" Tayuya started. "I've never had ramen before." She then noticed how Naruto stopped walking a few steps behind her, all colour drained from his face.

A few moments of silence passed.

And a few more.

" **WHAT**?!" was what was heard from the recently-wed man after those moments of silence passed, gathering the attention of some of the passer-by's. "HOW?! How could you have never had ramen in your entire life? I don't know what I would do if I had gone that long with ramen!" Naruto visibly shuddered at the thought of never eating ramen.

The red-head rubbed her forehead. "Dammit Shithead keep it down. People are looking at us, you fucktard." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "And as you know, for as long as I can remember I've been under the care of the snake fucker, and he would only feed us soldier pills, and the occasional bits of bread if we've been good with our work. And then for the past couple years since we took Sasuke I've been recovering in your shitty hospitals and prisons eating whatever the fuck they call that shit they feed to people."

"Oh, right…sorry. Completely forgot about that! Hehe…" he apologized. "Do you mind doing me a favour though?"

"Probably." At this point the two were once again walking side by side, now towards this new destination that had food Tayuya had never eaten. "Spit it out Shithead?"

"It's about your swearing." Naruto revealed, causing Tayuya to raise an eyebrow. "When we get there I'm gonna need you to stop."

Stop swearing? Was Naruto going batshit crazy? Swearing was one of Tayuya's favourite things! It was one of the few things you couldn't take away from her! "Why the fuck would I do that?"

The blonde shinobi sighed. Was it really that hard to just accept what he was asking her to do? "Because the people who run Ichiraku Ramen are very important to me. I haven't got many friends in this village, and I've never had any proper family, but the people working there are the closest thing I have to family. They've never tried to hurt me, instead showing me love and care like no one else. They were the first people to accept me in this village, so I hold them very close to my heart." Naruto then grabbed Tayuya's hands and put them together in his. "Since you're my wife, they're going to care a lot about how you treat me, so if they see that I'm with some rude girl that hits me and swears all the time, then they're going to disapprove of you and scold me. So please, just when we're at Ichiraku's, okay? Anywhere else you can swear to your hearts content, but just not there."

Tayuya supposed that it wasn't that bad of a deal she was being given, and this could also be her way of apologizing to Naruto for how she's been treating him since earlier that morning. "Fine, Shithead. I'll try not to swear. But just for you!"

The orange clad boy's face lit up with glee, and so he pulled Tayuya into a strong hug in the middle of the street. "Thank you Tayuya! You're the best!"

Her face turned a nice rosy pink. "G-geez S-Shithead. C-c-calm d-down, it's not that big of a deal!" she stuttered.

"It is to me! You're very important to me Tayuya! You're one of my precious people, and my wife, so if you and I can work like this then of course I'm gonna be super happy!" the ever-cheerful boy said, holding his wife out by the shoulders. He then took hold of one of Tayuya's hands and pulled her along as he ran down the streets of Konoha.

Tayuya's blush remained on her face, changing to a slightly deeper shade. As she got pulled along only one thought crossed her mind. 'Dammit Shithead, why are you making it so easy for me to fall in love with you?'

* * *

After turning a few corners and running down a couple streets, the Uzumaki couple finally arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Here we are! Now remember what I said, no swearing." Naruto said, getting ready to step into his all-time favourite ramen stand.

Tayuya sighed. "Yeah yeah I remember. You said that like a minute ago. No need to be so repetitive, Naruto." Seeing as Tayuya was calling Naruto by his real name, that probably meant she was going along with his favour.

The two then sat down next to each other, getting pretty hungry. "Hey! Ayame! Old man! It's me!"

"Ah!" Ayame jumped, not noticing the arrivals to the stand due her attention being on washing the bowls. "Oh Naruto, I didn't see you there.

Teuchi instead greeted him with a welcoming smile. "Hey Naruto! It's been a little while since you were last here! How was your mission?"

The yellow headed shinobi grew a wide grin, always happy to talk about his life as a ninja to Ayame and Teuchi "Oh yeah it was easy, no sweat! Just a reconnaissance mission along with some combat against some enemy ninjas. But whatever, I coulda done it on my own! Ooh ooh and then-"

He was cut off by some coughs coming from the red head sat next to him, clearly unimpressed by the fact that she hadn't been introduced. "Ahem, Shi…Naruto. You just gonna ignore me this whole time?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Oh right. Sorry Tayuya. Uh, Tayuya I'd like you to meet Ayame and old man Teuchi, the people I was on about earlier. Ayame, Teuchi, this is Tayuya." He introduced his wife to the two behind the counter, gesturing with his arms.

"Nice to meet you Tayuya." The father and owner of the stand replied first.

The brown-haired daughter then added her own reply. "Yes, it's very nice to meet you Tayuya. My apologies for not introducing ourselves the second you came in."

"Sup." Was all Tayuya shot out.

Ayame then took notice of the fact that Tayuya was a girl that she had never seen before. And the fact that Naruto had come in with her. And that she seemed to be very close to Naruto. And was very pretty. Pretty enough to land someone like Naruto. Could this call for some light teasing?

The eldest of the three teenagers started giggling. "Say Naruto, Tayuya wouldn't happen to be your girlfriend, would she?" she continued giggling away.

"Yup, she is." Naruto answered, an idiotic grin present on his features. That's right, he had a girlfriend, and he was introducing her to the people that were essentially his family.

'Teehee' Ayame thought, still giggling. 'Just like Naruto to deny it. Look at the two of them blushing like that. This is gonna be sooo much fun!' But wait a second. They weren't blushing. And Naruto didn't deny it. "Wait did you say she is your girlfriend?"

Tayuya took this one, leaning against the counter. "Yeah, I am Naruto's girlfriend. Got a problem with that?"

'Aww man. I was looking forward to teasing Naruto…' Ayame shook her head. "N-no…I just…err…" Being one who loved to tease the boy who was like a little brother to her, Ayame was a bit disappointed. But, if there was one thing she loved more than teasing, it was gossip, so now she HAD to find out how the two of them got together. She slammed her hands down on the counter, beginning to rapid fire questions at the couple sat in front of her. "So, how did the two of you meet? How long ago was is? How did you start dating? Who asked out who? Come on! Details! I need details!"

The two ninja's heads then shot to look at each other, the same thought popping into their heads. 'CRAP!' Neither of them had thought about what they were going to say to anyone about that sort of stuff. Probably because neither had been in a relationship before.

"Could we uhh…could we just have a minute to ourselves?" The jinchūriki asked, not even waiting for a reply before grabbing Tayuya's hand and running outside, pulling the both of them to the back street behind the ramen stand.

"Damnit! Quick, Tayuya! What's our story?" Naruto questioned, panicking to think of an answer because if they took too long it would look suspicious.

"Fuck I dunno. I thought you had thought of that Shithead!" Tayuya argued. "I didn't know people really cared about that dumb stuff!"

It took a few moments before either of the two spoke, both trying their hardest to come up with an idea. It proved to be harder than they thought.

"Got it!" Naruto exclaimed, gaining Tayuya's attention. "What if we use a dumbed down version of how we actually met, and just change a few details?"

Tayuya rose an eyebrow. "The fuck do you mean Shithead?"

The blonde boy gave his meaning. "We'll just say that a few weeks ago I found you lost in the forest, starved, dehydrated and with some broken bones! And then I took you to the hospital and visited you every day. Then eventually I asked you out. Something like that?"

Tayuya supposed it seemed reasonable enough to be true. "Could work, I guess…" Naruto then grabbed her hand and was about to start walking back to the stand when Tayuya yanked it out of his grasp. "Wait a second Shithead." Naruto turned to look at his wife. "Does Konoha have a flower shop?"

Naruto took a second to think it over, before remembering the one Ino and her family owned. "Yeah, the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Why do you want to know?"

"God, you're pathetic Shithead. It's a known fact that girls love flowers, so we gotta say you gave me some!" Was Tayuya's reply. Naruto replied with a quick 'Oh' before Tayuya continued her reasoning. "Let's say you got me an amaryllis, a pink carnation, a red chrysanthemum and a purple lilac."

"Why those?" Naruto was confused as to why Tayuya had to be so specific with flowers. Flowers were just flowers, right? They didn't mean anything special as far as he knew.

Tayuya sighed again. God damn was Shithead a real shithead. But then she started to blush a little bit, because of the meaning behind those flowers, and the fact that she kinda did want to be given them. "Because of the meanings behind them Shithead! An amaryllis is for worth beyond beauty, a pink carnation symbolizes the love of a woman, a red chrysanthemum conveys love and a purple lilac is for first love." Now she was hoping Naruto would actually go out and buy her those flowers.

"Oh. Makes sense, I guess. Ok let's go back in. We're probably taking too long!" He then took hold of Tayuya's hand again and walked around the stand, back through the entrance, and took his seat. "Sorry about that! Just had to ask Tayuya something in private."

Teuchi chucked, being more than happy at seeing Naruto with someone at long last. "No worries, Naruto. I'd like to apologize for Ayame's questions though." Said girl pouted at her father.

"Daaad, it's not like I did anything wrong!" Ayame turned back towards the two re-seated teens. "So? Gonna tell me how it happened?"

Tayuya was the one to start giving the answer. "Yeah, right, here goes. I'm actually a kunoichi from the Land of Waves, but from a smaller village, so we weren't treated as professionally as somewhere like Konoha. I was growing bored of our ninja system, so I decided to run away to the Land of Fire since this village was fairly close by. On my way here I was attacked by some rogue ninjas, and they broke some of my bones and took my food and water." Ayame gasped.

The red-head, who wasn't actually from the Land of Waves as far as she knew, continued her story. "This all happened like three to four weeks ago, and luckily for me Naruto was on a solo mission nearby. He found me dehydrated and starving, lying against a tree." Said boy nodded, as if to let Ayame know Tayuya was telling the truth.

Ayame decided that this story was actually pretty good. "What happened next?"

Naruto took over. "So as Tayuya said, I found her against a tree. After giving her some food and water that I had on me, and after giving her a bit of this special cream Hinata gave to me a while back, I convinced her to let me carry her back here. I took Tayuya straight to the hospital, and luckily for me Granny was checking on some of the patients there so I quickly reported in my mission and got her to check on Tayuya."

"Phew, that's great. So, how did you get from that to dating?" Ayame wiped her forehead, just as Tayuya took over. This whole time Teuchi also listented in, while preparing some ramen, because he was 99% sure he knew what Naruto was going to order.

"Every day while I was recovering, whenever he got the chance Naruto would come visit me, and would sit by my bed, talking to me about the village and about himself, and I would tell him about myself. It was kinda interesting to learn about this place. Especially since I had asked Lady Tsunade if, once I recovered, I could become a ninja for the leaf, which after a bit of persuasion by Naruto, she agreed to. Anyway, on my last day in the hospital, Naruto was late to meet up with me, but it turns out he was out buying me some flowers. You know, from that place the Yamanaka's own."

Ayame and Teuchi nodded, and then Ayame thought about what kind of flowers Naruto might buy for a girl. Last she checked, Naruto didn't know a whole lot about flowers. "So what flowers did you buy for Tayuya? And how did you ask her out?"

"Right." Naruto cleared his throat. "I got her an amarillo...no wait I mean an amaryllis, and a pink carnation. Um…there was also a…uhh…red chrysanthen…chrysutha…christofom…"

"A red chrysanthemum." Tayuya corrected, kicking Naruto under the counter.

"Yeah! That's it! That's what I meant! Oh, and a purple lilac. You know, because of the meanings behind them. I got a little bit of help from Ino for that."

Ayame squealed in delight. "OOOOHHH! So romantic! Since when did you know so much about flowers, Naruto?"

Tayuya sighed. God were all the people in this village this mushy? "Yeah, whatever. So after Naruto gave me those flowers, which was yesterday, he asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend. Just flat out like that. And I like it when men are direct with me like that, so I accepted. And since I didn't have anywhere to stay, Naruto offered to let me live with him. So now we're going out and we live together. Big whoop." Tayuya finished off their fake origin story.

"Well I for one am very happy for you Naruto." Teuchi stated, really meaning what he said, and knowing that Ayame felt the same way. "Now, what would you say about a bowl of ramen each on the house to celebrate?"

Naruto shot up in his seat. "YEAH! That'd be awesome old man! Okay gimme a miso ramen with extra pork!"

"And for you, young lady?" Teuchi turned to Tayuya, but she in turn moved to face Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto. Remember? I've never had ramen before. What should I get?" she asked, prodding his elbow."

A few seconds passed, before Naruto started scratching his chin. "Hmm…"

"Come on, Naruto…it can't be that hard to choose what to order for your lady." Tayuya's stomach was starting to rumble.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that I dunno what I should say. You could get the vegetarian option, you know, since you're a girl. That's the one Sakura and Ino always go for. They say they need to watch their figure. It's weird though…I've never seen Hinata, TenTen or any of the other girls go for that one." Naruto gave the first option.

Tayuya then hit him on the top of his head. "You think that just because I'm a girl I want the veggie option? Don't be stupid Naruto. Clearly if that's the one pinkie and flower girl go for, then they aren't training hard enough! I bet I could take them both on at the same time!"

Naruto waved his hands in front of him. "No, no…that's not what I meant! I said that none of the other girls go for that one! It's just that those two are always getting that, and I figured that since they eat it to stay pretty, you'd want it too! But I think you'd look pretty no matter what, so I dunno."

The red-head then retracted her hand, blushing and turning away for a couple of second. Was Shithead gonna start going on a complimenting spree again?

The experience ramen eater then gave his other suggestion. "But I suppose since you are really hungry, and cuz in the hospital they never give you enough food, you should have the same thing as me. Yeah, that one! You cool with that?" Tayuya shyly nodded. "Okay old man! That will be two miso ramens with extra pork!"

"Coming right up!" Teuchi quickly got to work on that order, and after handing them to Ayame to serve, turned back towards the pots since Naruto would probably want more to eat.

Once she had given the food to Naruto and Tayuya, Ayame moved next to her dad and whispered something to him. "Hey, dad? Don't they remind you a bit of Minato and Kushina?"

Apparently that whisper wasn't quiet enough, because just as Teuchi was about to respond, Naruto stopped eating to jump in to their conversation. "You mean my parents? Did you guys know them well?"

Teuchi and Ayame jumped, not expecting Naruto to have heard them, or even to have known who his parents were. Teuchi was the first to recover from the shock. "N-Naruto? D-did you…just say what I thought you did?"

The Genin ranked ninja nodded and chuckled. "Yeah. Earlier today Granny Hokage told me that my dad was Minato Namikaze and that my mom was Kushina Uzumaki! Who would have thought…me being the son of the 4th Hokage, one of the heroes of the war?"

Naruto noticed the looks of betrayal, along with the tears starting to develop on the faces of the Ichiraku Ramen workers. Ayame started speaking through a wavy voice "N-N-Naruto…I…We are s-so sorry…we should have told you…it was wrong of us to keep that secret from you all these years, while you sat just a couple feet from where we stand all day. Maybe we could have made your life better…please, forgive us!"

Seeing two of his favourite people in such a state deeply depressed Naruto, so he quickly jumped over the counter and pulled the two into a hug. "Hey big sis, old man, it's not your fault. You don't have to say sorry for not telling me. I know that I wasn't told anything to protect me, but at least I know now."

"You're too kind Naruto! We don't deserve a customer like you!" Teuchi apologised, wiping away his tears."

Naruto grinned "But if you didn't have me as a customer, who would be the one to make people come here?" After that the three broke out into small fit of laughter, and Tayuya surprisingly let out a chuckle of her own, taking a break from eating.

"Now, how about some more ramen?" Naruto queried about, seeing as he was nearly done with his first bowl, and would certainly be needing more, as would Tayuya.

* * *

Many ramen bowls later, Naruto paid for both his and Tayuya's meals, and then after offering a quick goodbye, they left the ramen stand for the main streets of Konoha.

"So," Naruto turned to look at the first-time ramen eater. "What did ya think?"

Tayuya grew a smirk "About what? The people who work there, or the emotional scene you put together like the pussy you are?"

Oh looks like Tayuya is already back to using her normal language. That's nice. "Tayuyaaaaa. I gotta know what you thought of the ramen! I mean this marriage might not work out if you don't like ramen. This is a serious issue for me!"

The Oto ninja sighed, and then replied sarcastically. "Oh no! Not being married to some random shithead from Konoha! What will I ever do?" She inwardly laughed at the unamused expression showing on Naruto's face. "I'm only kidding Shithead! Being married to you isn't that bad. The ramen though…holy fucking shit I see what you mean now! How was I never given any before?"

Naruto jumped up at that, glad he had found another person who shares his love for ramen.

"Hey Shithead?" Shithead…Or rather Naruto hummed in response. "Should you have told them what you did? That you know about who your parents were?"

Oh yeah, he didn't really think before he jumped into their conversation. "Uhh…honestly I think it's fine that I did. I mean I know Granny told me not to tell anyone, but I'm sure she'll forgive me if the only people I tell are Ayame and the Old Man! Granny knows what they mean to me, so don't worry about it…"

"Speaking of which," Tayuya had a follow up question. "Why the fuck do you keep on calling your Hokage, Granny or Grandma? She doesn't look a day over fucking 30! You're not just some disrespectful twat, are you?"

'That's right, Tayuya probably doesn't know a whole bunch about Granny, or anyone related to the Leaf for that matter' Naruto got ready to tell her the reason. "Sure, she may look 30, but she's actually in her 50's!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, no lies! Granny is the same age as Orochimaru and Pervy Sage!"

"Pervy who now?"

"Pervy Sage is Jiraiya, one of my sensei's. And the very same Jiraiya from the three Legendary Sannin. You know, alongside Orochimaru and Tsunade."

Hold the fucking phone. Naruto was being personally trained by one of the Legendary Sannin, while another one of them was leading the village. Okay maybe the people of this village did stand a chance against whatever Orochimaru throws at them. "Damn…but wait why does cow tits look so young then?"

"Cow tits?" Tayuya motioned with her hands in front of her chest to her breasts. "Oh. So that's your nickname for Granny? Okay. Anyway, she just uses a genjutsu to make herself look young. I think the only person who has seen what she actually looks like is big sister Shizune, maybe Jiraiya. All I know is that she's super old and wrinkly."

"Huh…don't get why she needs to hide how she looks though. I mean I know that Orochimaru has experimented on himself so he doesn't look super old, and from what I've heard Jiraiya doesn't look that old, so clearly cow tits must have been doing something that made her super old…" Tayuya pondered on the reason for this.

"Well for starters isn't she known as the most beautiful kunoichi alive? So, I guess she wants to keep that up. Then there's the fact that she's a woman and from what I've seen of other woman, they like to keep up appearances. Then there's the fact that she gambles a lot and drinks a lot too, so they could have to do with her ageing."

Tayuya yawned, growing bored of the subject. "Eh, who the fuck really cares Shithead. Let's do something. We've got this whole day for me to look around and for us to shop!"

Wait why would they need to shop? "Why do we need to go shopping Tayuya?"

"Because, Shithead, your shithole of an apartment is fucking dirty as shit, and has no food other than a couple of instant ramens! We can't live off just that, so we need to actually buy some meat, fruit and veg. Also, I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life wearing your old clothes, so we gotta go find somewhere to buy me some clothes, and then some underwear. You know, girly shit." Tayuya listed off all the things that they needed to buy. God this sounded exhausting, but if it made Tayuya feel better with living in Konoha with Naruto, then Naruto supposed he could do it. Just for her.

* * *

Many, many hours later, Naruto and Tayuya had finally finished with their shopping (and a kind of unprompted tour of the village by Naruto), leaving the two of them exhausted. They had gone to all kinds of stores across Konoha, from food stores to clothing stores, to ones selling decorations for the house and so on. Well, I say they had finished, but Tayuya wanted to go to just one more store in search of clothing, because, y'know, she finally had the freedom to be able to do what she wanted to. No restrictions.

Naruto, the one being made to carry pretty much all of the bags, somehow simultaneously groaned and yawned. "Are we done yet Tayuya? I swear we've already been all over!"

"Shut the fuck up Shithead, we're done when I say we're done! Anyway, this is the last one. Probably. Maybe. I dunno." Tayuya, who only had a few light bags, replied.

"Ughh…" Naruto groaned again. "Wait…Who's even paying for all of this?" Naruto had very little money, and Tayuya had none, so how they could afford all of this stuff made no sense.

The red-head walked into the clothing store that the two had finally arrived at, practically brushing off the question. "Pfft, how should I know? I kinda just assumed it was you. Ah, fuck it who cares."

* * *

In the meantime, a few stores behind them one might spot Shizune, the 5th Hokage's assistant, frantically paying for everything, being sent out after them following direct orders from Tsunade herself. All of the money was coming out of a private account that had been opened for Naruto under the Uzumaki name, that had a considerably large amount of interest. There was more than enough money to last several lifetimes in there, and Naruto was going to be told about it at the meeting earlier that day, but he had run out with Tayuya too soon.

* * *

After a few minutes of searching through the store, and a few somewhat uncaring comments from Naruto, Tayuya had finally picked out her main outfit that she would wear during her career as a ninja for the Leaf. That outfit being a navy-blue t-shirt, a purple sleeveless hoodie which was kept unzipped, a pair of black cargo shorts, and the traditional black ninja sandals.

"So?" Tayuya asked, checking herself out in the mirror, admiring the choice of clothing she had made.

Naruto responded with "W-what?", looking to the side instead of at Tayuya, not being able to bring himself to look at her at that moment.

The sound kunoichi grunted. "Whaddya think of how I- HEY SHITHEAD WHAT THE SHIT?! Look at me when I'm fucking talking to you!" She turned to face Naruto, then twisted his head so that he would face her. "Now tell me what you think! Do I look fucking great or what?!"

Nervously, Naruto replied. "Y-you l-look good T-Tayuya…"

Tayuya fell into a dumb ranting rage. "Good? JUST GOOD?! I TRY TO ASK FOR YOUR HONEST OPINION AND ALL YOU SAY IS GOOD?! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT SHITHEAD GO READ A FUCKING DICTIONARY AND UPDATE YOUR VOCABULARY! AND WHY ARE YOU STUTTERING LIKE THA-" It was then that Tayuya noticed the constant averting of her husband's eyes, and the blush a similar shade to her hair. Oh, and the blood flowing from his nose. Those three things told her all she needed to know, and that Naruto did mean more than he said.

"Oh…" She offered out as an apology. "I shouldn't have shouted at you." If Naruto was looking at her like that, like he did actually find her that attractive, then maybe falling in love with him wouldn't be so hard, or so bad after all. But why was he looking at her like that? Surely Naruto didn't reciprocate the same feelings that Tayuya had been building up since that morning? Tayuya didn't think of herself as deserving of being looked at like she was, or being loved by someone great like Naruto, so why did it feel so real? Their relationship wasn't even real in the first place, all a lie to keep her alive, but now Tayuya wanted it to be real.

"No," The yellow-haired shinobi spoke up. "I'm sorry for not being honest. You do look real pretty Tayuya! It matches your hair and brings out your eyes!"

This time Tayuya was the one to turn away, pink dusting her cheeks. "S-shut up!"

The two of them then fell into a little fit of giggles, before smiling and walking out of the store together, now that their day of shopping had been finished.

Suddenly a thought fell into Naruto's head, that thought being a form of apology for not being honest, because Naruto didn't want anyone else to dislike him, especially if that person was Tayuya. "Hey Tayuya?"

"What's up Shithead? We going home now?" Just saying the word 'home' like it was their home, because it was, filled Tayuya with joy. Finally having a proper home and the freedom to do whatever, it just felt great.

"Do you mind sitting over there," Naruto gestured to a bench across the street. "and waiting for me while I do something?"

"Huh? The fuck are you doing that's so secretive Shithead? What if I don't feel like waiting around for you?" Tayuya complained back.

Naruto put the bags down next to the bench, already decided on doing what he was planning on. "Come on Tayuya, I'll be back soon! I promise you'll like it! Please! I'll even leave a clone to keep you company!"

Tayuya supposed that sitting down and waiting wasn't actually a hard thing to do, and that she might as well do it if it means Naruto is getting something for her. "Fine…but don't take too long, kay? I'm fucking exhausted from all this walking around. Why the hell is your shitty village so big!"

"Thaaank you Tayuyaaaaaa!" Was what Naruto shouted as he ran in the direction of…wherever it was he was going.

The mischievous and loud-mouthed girl turned to the clone that had been left to stay with her, deciding on having some fun with it. "Hey, clone Shithead!"

The clone turned to face her. "Yes, Mrs Uzumaki?"

Tayuya's chest tightened, hearing herself be called that. It hadn't really set in that that was now her name. Tayuya Uzumaki. Not many people knew of the relationship between her and Naruto, so of course Tayuya shouldn't expect to be called that as soon as she did. Anyway, back to the fun.

"How big is it?" She asked.

"How big is what, Mrs Uzumaki?"

"You know what I mean, you dumb fuck," Tayuya gestured to the crotch area of Naruto's clone. "it. How big is Shithead's dick?"

The Naruto clone grew a deep blush, before dispelling itself, not wanting to be opposed with such questions. Tayuya fell into another fit of laughter.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto had just arrived at his destination, and had also just received the memory of the clone he had left, which not even 30 seconds after, had dispelled itself. "Dammit Tayuya, why'd you have to go and ask that?" He shook his head in disapproval, though he also gave a little chuckle. Tayuya was more than capable of looking after herself anyway.

Anyway, where was it that Naruto had run of to? None other than the Yamanaka Flower Shop. He walked through the door, a small bell ringing to notify whoever was currently working there that a customer had arrived.

"Welcome to to Yamanaka Flower Shop! How may I-" a young female voice, belonging to Ino Yamanaka, called out, stopping mid-sentence when she noticed who had come to her family's shop. "Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"Naruto?" Another voice called out, that one belonging to Sakura, whose shift at the hospital had recently ended, and so she had headed to Ino's to talk about what happened between Naruto, Naruto's new girlfriend (she remembered Naruto's instruction to refer to Tayuya as his girlfriend, not as his wife) and herself early in the morning.

The orange clad boy waved at the two. "Hey Ino, hey Sakura. I'm here to buy some flowers. Why else would I be here?"

That made sense to Ino. There isn't anything else to buy at her shop. "Ooh, are they for your girlfriend, Naruto? What's she like?" Ino had already heard a description of Tayuya from Sakura, but she wanted to hear Naruto's opinion as well.

"Yeah, they are for Tayuya. What's she like? Hmm…" Naruto scratched the back of his head in thought. "Well she's really nice and smart. Oh, and she's real pretty! Like she has this long and beautiful red hair, and these eyes that are brown like chocolate! And Tayuya always has a cute expression on her face! She can be mischievous at times, and does swear a lot, but she has a really nice voice, and is funny and strong too! I really like her!" As Naruto was listing off these descriptions of Tayuya, he came to realize something. They weren't just things he was making up on the spot, he really did feel this way towards Tayuya, which is probably why these words came to him so quickly. But, he wondered, would she feel the same way?

"Aww." Ino clasped her hands together, leaning on the counter. "That's so sweet! Totally different from what Sakura told me."

Naruto gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I guess it would be. Speaking of which, Sakura?"

The pink haired girl looked towards her team member, and replied "What, Naruto?"

"Could we talk? Just for a moment?" He asked, stepping to the side, away from Ino for some privacy.

"I guess we can." Sakura replied, following him. "What's up?"

Naruto cleared his throat, readying himself to apologize. "First of all I wanted to say thanks for not telling Ino about who Tayuya was, and for saying that she's my girlfriend."

"Oh, yeah no biggie. You have anything else to say? Or…" Sakura was actually expecting an apology of some sorts, even though it was her who threw the first punch.

"Yeah, I wanted to apologize for getting mad at you and hitting you earlier. It's just that I had already been through a lot before that, and, well, Tayuya means a lot to me."

"She does?" Sakura raised an eyebrow in questioning. Naruto had only just been reintroduced to the girl, so what was he on about?

"Mhm. I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but the only reason why Tayuya is still alive is because I agreed to have a baby with her." Naruto started to confess the truth.

It took a second to click in her mind, but Sakura was catching on to what was happening. "WHAT?!"

Naruto covered his ears. "God, not so loud Sakura! But yeah. It's true. At the meeting with Granny, I was introduced to this weird old guy called Danzo, and he said had been keeping Tayuya alive all this time for the purpose of me impregnating her. Something about us having compatible bloodlines which will make the baby super strong. I don't know about that stuff though."

"You have a bloodline?" the medical kunoichi asked, surprised.

"Oh, right yeah. Turns out I do. There used to be a whole Uzumaki clan. But I'll fill you in on that another time, I've kinda left Tayuya waiting for me. Anyway, the reason why I said Tayuya means a lot to me is because, even though I agreed to marry her so that she could live, I think I might actually have feelings for her. I'm not sure what this is I'm feeling, but I do really like her. Like, for real! So, I'm sorry for what I did, but you tried to attack her, so I did what had to be done." Naruto finished his apology and reasoning, leaving Sakura to drink in all the information.

After a few seconds Sakura had pieced most of it together, and then gave an apology of her own. "I'm sorry too, Naruto. I shouldn't have been so rash, and should have waited for an explanation instead of trying to hit Tayuya earlier."

"Naah, it's ok. You had your reasons. We cool now?" Naruto asked, wanting to make sure their friendship was still intact, and also wanting to quickly buy the flowers and not keep Tayuya waiting any longer.

"Yes, Naruto. We're still friends. I'm just glad you came to me to apologize." Sakura smiled, and Naruto smiled in return.

Ino coughed, gaining their attention. "You two done yet?" Naruto and Sakura nodded in response. "Good, now, didn't you say you wanted some flowers, Naruto?"

Naruto then thought back to his conversation with Tayuya earlier that day, trying to remember the names of the flowers she had him list off. "Oh yeah, right. I need an amaryllis, a pink carnation, a red chrysanthemum and a purple lilac. Oh and can I also get a gardenia and a red rose?"

Sakura and Ino were shocked. Those 6 flowers (2 more than he had actually been told about) had such deep meanings, especially when it came to love, and Naruto, the knucklehead ninja who not many thought would find love, was buying these for a girl.

Ino spoke up, due to Sakura's jaw being dropped and therefore unable to speak. "N-N-Naruto? You know what those flowers mean, right? You're not just randomly picking them out?"

"Yeah, I know what they mean!" He replied, as if it was a dumb question.

"H-how?"

Naruto sighed. "I just do. I was told about some of them, and the others I've read about. There a problem with that?"

Ino got out from behind the counter, ready to pick out the flowers Naruto had requested. "N-no, I suppose not. Just never expected you of all people to know about flowers. Then again, you are surprising and unpredictable. Anyway, they'll be coming right up!"

Meanwhile, all Sakura could think was 'Huh, so Naruto really is in love with her. Guess that means he won't be bothering me anymore. I'm happy for him, though. He deserves it.'

* * *

Not long after, Naruto picked up the flowers, offered his thanks and then ran out the store, knowing that Tayuya would probably be a bit agitated since she had been told to wait for him for all that time. After turning a final corner, he made it back to the bench that Tayuya and the bags had been left at.

"SHITHEAD" Tayuya shouted, definitely agitated. "WHAT THE FUCK TOOK YOU SO LONG?!"

Naruto came to a stop in front of Tayuya, one arm behind his back holding the flowers. "S-sorry 'bout that Tayuya. But I was buying you something, and then I saw Sakura so I had to apologise to her."

Tayuya crossed her arms. "Fine, then. What did you get met then?"

"W-well, uhh…I-I got you…" Naruto was nervous. He was about to reveal his true feelings, after all.

"Fucking spit it out Shithead." Tayuya wondered why Naruto was acting a bit nervous, similar to how he was before.

Naruto turned his head to look away out of embarrassment, and thrust the flowers towards his wife, shouting a bit too loudly. "I GOT YOU THESE. I HOPE YOU LIKE THEM!"

"F-flowers?" Tayuya was shocked. Naruto got her flowers, and not just any flowers, the ones she had told him about earlier, plus 2 more, the gardenia and the rose, which she also knew the meanings behind. But there was no way that Naruto felt the same way towards Tayuya, as she did towards him, right? Either way, her chest tightened, and her heart beat faster.

Moments passed, and not a single word has been passed between the two.

"T-Tayuya?" Naruto questioned, looking towards his girlfriend/wife, and seeing that she had dropped the flowers next to the bags, and was looking towards the ground, her lips curved up, almost like a frown. "W-what's wrong?"

A few more moments passed before Tayuya responded. "Why?", and just before Naruto could ask what she was on about, she continued to talk. "Why the fuck are you doing this for me? Why are you being so fucking nice to me?"

The blonde boy grew concerned. Hadn't they already had this argument, back in the council chambers? "Tayuya what's wrong with me doing this?"

"I DON'T FUCKING DESERVE ANY OF THIS YOU DIPSHIT! First you agree to marry me like it's nothing, then you put up with all my bullshit and forgive me, and then you defend me from that pink bitch! And all day you've been carrying our stuff without complaining, and then you fucking looked at me like some love-struck asshole and said all those nice things about me! And now you buy me these flowers! Earlier, you even said that this relationship might not work out if I didn't like ramen, but this isn't even real! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I DO-" She choked on her tears. "I DON'T DESERVE TO BE TREATED LIKE THIS. WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO HAVE YOU BE LIKE THIS? YOU FUCKING RETARD!"

Naruto slowly lifted his hand up, and cupped Tayuya's cheek with it. "Tayuya, please, stop crying. I thought I told you that you looked prettier when you weren't crying."

Tayuya violently shook her head, trying to get Naruto's hand off of her. "G-get the fuck away me! Stop being so fucking nice to me!"

Noting the resistance from that, Naruto instead grabbed Tayuya by the shoulders and pulled her close to him, into a hug. "Sshh, Tayuya, I told you it's gonna be okay." He moved the two of them to sit on the bench, Tayuya sitting on his lap against his chest, as he stroked through her hair. "Please, just…let me explain."

Slowly, Tayuya tried to stop herself from crying, and lifted her head so that she could look up at Naruto. Weakly, she asked. "Why?"

"Well…why are you going along with it?" Naruto opted to listen to Tayuya's reasoning first, seeing as his was more complicated.

The red-head gulped, thinking of why exactly she was going with it, why she had agreed to marry this random ninja. "B-because…I don't fucking know. Because I don't know any better! Because I don't have anything else! Because I don't want to die! Because I want a family! I don't fucking know. I just…I have nothing…and…you were there for me, even though I don't deserve it…I'm just scared, Naruto. I want to live and grow old, and not be treated like trash. I just want…something…"

Naruto noted how Tayuya called him by his name, and not by Shithead, meaning she was feeling particularly vulnerable. He would have to be careful with this. "See? Those are good reasons, there's nothing wrong with feeling how you do!"

"S-so? W-what about you Naruto?" Tayuya asked, because he was seemingly her only friend, and was legally her husband.

"Because, Tayuya, just like you, I've had nothing in this world. I've been treated like trash my whole life. As you know, I've never had any family or friends, growing up, and all the villagers treat me like crap. I know that there's a part of me that hates the villagers, but I also know that I can't do anything to attack them, because that goes against everything I believe in. They just don't know the truth."

"B-but why then? W-why are you going with this?"

"Because…I'm just super forgiving like that! I forgive the villagers every day, and I've forgiven you. I know you helped kill old man Hokage, and I know you took Sasuke, but you were under orders from evil scum like Orochimaru, so the only thing I can do is forgive you. And even though our relationship is built on a lie, I think I kinda like you anway…" Naruto gave his explanation.

Tayuya's spirits were lifted hearing that. Naruto liked her! Now all she had to do was say she liked him as well. "Y-y-you do?"

The jinchūriki nodded, and gave a warm smile. "Yeah. I know I'm probably being stupid because we've only known each other for less than a day, but I like you. I think you're really pretty and nice, and I like being around you. You may not think it, but you're a good person, and I wanna get to know you more. I wanna be with you, and hold you close, and grow strong with you. I wanna have that baby with you and help you raise it. As husband and wife. But yeah, I like you."

The genjutsu user searched Naruto's eyes for any signs of deceit or lying, and after finding none, wrapped her arms around her husband, and pulled herself against him. "Y-yeah, w-well I like you too!"

Both Naruto and Tayuya sat there, content with being with each other, before Tayuya whispered out a quick "Thank you…"

Naruto gave her a quick pat on the back. "Don't worry about it Tayuya. I told you already, I'm not gonna hurt you, and I'm not gonna leave you either."

A few moments later, Tayuya mumbled something against Naruto's jacket.

"What was that?"

Tayuya gave a little cough, and then moved back a little bit. "I said…kiss me…"

"W-WHA-?!" Naruto nearly jumped from where he was sitting. Tayuya wanted to kiss him already? Not a day into his relationship and he was gonna give someone his first kiss!

"I want you to kiss me. You said that you like me, Shithead, so prove it!" Tayuya was confident in wanting to give her first kiss to Naruto.

Gulping, Naruto puckered his lips and leant forward, while Tayuya wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and pulled herself up.

Oh god, here it was. Their first kiss. Were either of them going to like it? Would they still like each other after the kiss? What if they were bad at kissing? What if something went wrong? They both secretly panicked. Slowly, Naruto leant further forward, and just as he was about kiss Tayuya, he lost his balance and fell off from the bench, causing them both to crash to the floor, Naruto on top of Tayuya.

"OW! DAMMIT SHITHEAD WHAT THE FUCK!" Tayuya complained, trying to move Naruto off of her.

"S-sorry Tayuya. Guess I kinda messed up?" Naruto replied, his face hovering above Tayuya's, each of them with a blush on their face.

Tayuya then thought about how it would be easy for them to kiss in the position they were in, even if they were in public and people were looking at them. "So? Are you gonna…" Tayuya dragged off, hoping that Naruto would pick up on the fact that she was asking if he was going to kiss her.

"Oh! Right, sorry!" Naruto stood up, disappointing Tayuya. He then offered his hand to her, in order to help Tayuya up.

The female Uzumaki took his hand, thinking about how much of an idiot Naruto was, but then, to her surprise, instead of helping her stand up, she was instead pulled into a kiss.

Tayuya's eyes widened the second it happened. 'H-HE'S KISSING ME! N-NARUTO! NARUTO IS KISSING ME! MMPH!'

Meanwhile Naruto was in a world of his own. 'I DID IT. I KISSED TAYUYA. Am I doing it right? Does she like how I'm doing it?' All of his concern was for Tayuya.

The kiss was, well…sloppy. Neither of them had kissed anyone before, and they were both super nervous, so it was expected. Their lips were more mashed against each other than anything else, and they both didn't really know what to do, but it kinda made sense.

Seconds later, they pulled away from the kiss.

Full of joy, Tayuya managed to bring herself to speak. "You fucking suck at kissing, Shithead."

Naruto, also full of glee, replied. "Pfft, says you Tayuya."

They both then stood there in an embrace, looking into each other's eyes, and then broke out into another fit of laughter. Oh, was young love a beautiful thing. And to the two of them, the other was truly beautiful.

Outside sounds slowly registered in their minds, and they were aware of the whistling and the catcalling from all the bystanders, bringing them both into sheepish grins.

"We should probably go home right? To put this stuff away, and you know…make out…" the team 7 member offered, and Tayuya could only respond by nodding dumbly in agreement.

Without a thought, Naruto summoned two clones to carry all of their shopping, and then picked Tayuya up bridal style.

Tayuya yelped in surprise, wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck. "S-Shithead!"

"I'm carrying you there Tayuya!" He ordered. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Naruto then ran off in the direction of his home, his two clones not far behind.

So, to answer the question: 'If Tayuya was given a second chance at life, even if it meant marrying Naruto Uzumaki, would she take it?', yes. Yes, she definitely would.


End file.
